No Retreat, No Surrender 2 [Region 2]

No Retreat, No Surrender 2 [Region 2]
by Corey Yuen

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Cynthia Rothrock, Loren Avedon, Matthias Hues, Max Thayer, Patra Wanthivanond
Director: Corey Yuen
Producer: Roy Horan
Writer: Roy Horan
Cinematographer: Chin Chiang Ma
Cinematographer: Nicholas Josef von Sternberg
Producer: See-Yuen Ng
Writer: Keith W. Strandberg
Writer: Maria Elena Cellino
DVD: Region Code 2
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: PAL
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)

Movie Reviews of No Retreat, No Surrender 2 [Region 2]

Movie Review: This One Retreats And Surrenders Just A Bit...
Summary: 3 Stars

All things considered, the "No Retreat, No Surrender" movies are one of the better martial arts film series to be made: from the original vehicle-to-fame of Jean-Claude Van Damme to the three adventures that paid Loren Avedon's bills and the final "Karate Kid" knockoff, the combined movies are much more enjoyable, competent, and consistent than the likes of the "Kickboxer", "Bloodsport", and "Bloodfist" series. With that being said, "Raging Thunder" is probably the weakest of five installments: even though it introduced the western world to underrated stars Loren Avedon, Cynthia Rothrock, and Matthias Hues, it's a technical disaster of poor acting, corny dialogue, and grainy production that only manages to exist on its action content (in other words, it's a typical Corey Yuen film).

The story: Scott Wylde (Avedon, "King of the Kickboxers") is an American tae kwon do expert gone to Thailand to meet his girlfriend - the daughter of a general; when she is kidnapped by enemy forces, Scott is blamed and must escape the police. En route to saving his girl, he hooks up with his old comrade Mac Jarvis (Max Thayer, "Martial Law II") and a spitfiring old flame of his (Rothrock, "Above the Law"); it will take nothing less than their combined talents to rescue the young woman from the clutches of the evil Russian general Juri (Hues, "I Come in Peace").

Let's get it out of the way: the fight scenes are amazing. Without counting the short ones (even those are neat), there are five stellar encounters involving all four of the stars, and not one of them disappoint. Loren Avedon, of course, gets the best ones as he beats up kidnappers, bounty hunters, monk-wannabes, and the general - showing off his amazing kicking prowess, his ability to adapt to Hong Kong cinefighting (lots of flips and flying kicks in store for him, including a Yuen Biao-inspired windmill kick), and giving Matthias Hues undoubtedly one of the best fights of his career for the finale. Cynthia Rothrock, despite being the distinctive veteran of Hong Kong action, plays second fiddle to Avedon but nonetheless manages a couple of cool encounters, including a fight with legitimate Japanese tough-guy Jang Lee Hwang ("Drunken Master"). Max Thayer looks to be in good shape, but his moves consist entirely of throwing out haymakers and blowing folks up.

However, once the action dies down, you're left with the embarrassing flaws of martial arts cinema, and these tax the film's watchability heavily. With the exception of the single scene featuring Thai actor Nirut Sirichanya ("Ong Bak 2"), there are exceedingly few instances of decent acting to be seen, with the performances of Avedon, Rothrock, and Avedon's on-screen fianc? Patra Wanthivanond being particularly hard on the eyes and ears; Hues' performance is no better, thanks to an unintentionally-funny exchange with Rothrock and the fact that he sets the standard for making funny faces during his fight scenes. Nonstop cornball dialogue ("You just made the endangered species list!"), a bare-bones production appearance, and a really disgusting scene of animal abuse continue to drag the film down to the point that you'll find yourself fast-forward to the fight scenes rather than sit through the rest of the nonsense more than once.

Also, there's a really convoluted plot base about war, invasion, and otherwise bombing raids between Thailand, Vietnam, and Russia, but hats off to anybody who can bother to figure that one out entirely. In short, fans of Loren Avedon, Cynthia Rothrock, and Matthias Hues definitely ought to give this a look, and fans of the series - opposed to only of the first movie - should at least give it a rent; Hollywood fans oughtn't set themselves up for a disappointment. As far as Corey Yuen films go, it'd be almost two decades before he made another American movie, and just as well: he needed some more experience before attempting to fuse Hong Kong and western butt-kicking again.

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